Henry George’s Protection or Free Trade was subtitled “with Special Regard to the Interests of Labor.” Yet this book and his free trade stance alienated both the unions and the Irish immigrant workers who had been his core supporters. Today, the book is popular with conservatives and Neo-libertarians as a defense of conventional free-trade policies. While both get him wrong, George’s bold stance on Free Trade, controversial as it is, may hold the key to securing prosperity without tariffs.
In this two-part lecture series, Dan Sullivan will present the background context and lead a discussion of the book, beginning with Chapter 26 (True Free Trade), and then proceed through all the subsequent chapters, from Chapter 19 onward, to establish labor’s interests.
Those who are interested in getting ahead of the discussion can look at the following links:
Terence Powderly asks to focus on land value tax and take on protectionism only after the land tax victory is won.
http://www.savingcommunities.org/docs/powderly.terence/30years08.html#cure-all
Maria Mazzenga and Dan Sullivan on the interactions between Henry George, Terence Powderly, Father Edward McGlynn (video). https://vimeo.com/48893598
Protection or Free Trade, chapter 26, “True Free Trade.” https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/1652#lf0448_head_027
Instructor: Dan Sullivan
Dates: Part 1: Mondays: 9/08, 9/15, 9/22, 9/29, 10/06; Part 2: Mondays – 10/20, 10/27, 11/03, 11/10, 11/17
Time: 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM ET
Location: Online via Zoom
